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Day: May 9, 2025

MEA Briefing on India-Pakistan Tension: Pakistan didn’t close airspace, used civilian flights as shield

MEA Briefing on India-Pakistan Tension: Pakistan didn’t close airspace, used civilian flights as shield

Wing Commander Vyomika Singh says, “…Pakistan did not close its civil airspace despite it launching a failed unprovoked drone and missile attack on 7 May at 08:30 hours in the evening. Pakistan is using civil airliner as a shield, knowing fully well that its attack on India would elicit a swift air defence response. This is not safe for the unsuspecting civil airliners including the international flights which were flying near IB between India and Pakistan. The screenshot we just showed, it shows the data of the application flight radar 24 during a high air defence alert situation in the Punjab sector. As you have seen, the airspace on the Indian side is absolutely devoid of civil air traffic due to our declared closure. However, there are civil airlines flying the air route between Karachi and Lahore…Indian Air force demonstrated considerable restraint in its response thus ensuring safety of international civil carriers.”

Trump claims ‘I don’t know her’ and ‘listened to’ RFK Jr about surgeon general pick getting MAGA pushback

Trump claims ‘I don’t know her’ and ‘listened to’ RFK Jr about surgeon general pick getting MAGA pushback

President Donald Trump said he does not know his new nominee for U.S. surgeon general, telling reporters Thursday that he relied upon the recommendation of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Trump withdrew the nomination of his first pick for surgeon general, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, this week and instead nominated Dr. Casey Means. The president, upon announcing her nomination, said she has “impeccable ‘MAHA’ credentials.”  TRUMP ANNOUNCES MAHA ADVOCATE CASEY MEANS WILL BE NEW SURGEON GENERAL NOMINEE When asked Thursday about Means and why he tapped her for the role, the president said Kennedy recommended her.  “Because Bobby thought she was fantastic, brilliant woman who went through Stanford — wanted to be academic instead of physician,” the president said.  “I don’t know her, I listened to Bobby,” Trump added. “I think she’ll be great.”  FLASHBACK: TRUMP’S SURGEON GENERAL PICK TOUTED AS ‘FIERCE’ MAHA ADVOCATE BEFORE CONFIRMATION HEARING Means, a vocal “Make America Healthy Again” proponent, played a significant role in helping shape the administration’s agenda surrounding health alongside her brother, Calley Means.  She has made a name for herself as a wellness influencer alongside her brother. In 2024, both Casey and Calley co-wrote a book about the chronic disease epidemic titled “Good Energy,” and Casey is also the co-founder of a health-tech company called Levels. Calley Means was previously tapped by the administration to serve as a top special advisor to Kennedy.  It is unclear why Nesheiwat’s nomination was pulled. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for more information and did not immediately receive a response.  Meanwhile, in a follow-up post on X, Nesheiwat also said she was “looking forward” to continuing to support Trump while working closely with Kennedy “in a senior policy role.”  “My focus continues to be on improving the health and well-being of all Americans, and that mission hasn’t changed,” Nesheiwat concluded in her public social media remarks.   Nesheiwat is the sister-in-law of recently fired National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, whom the president indicated he will now be nominating to be the next ambassador to the United Nations after dropping his initial nominee, New York GOP Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. 

Rubio just got an additional job in Trump’s administration — and he’s not the only one wearing multiple hats

Rubio just got an additional job in Trump’s administration — and he’s not the only one wearing multiple hats

Amid firings and government shake-ups, the Trump administration has repeatedly been assigning additional job roles to Cabinet members and other officials, Fox News Digital found.  Secretary of State Marco Rubio was charged on May 1 with serving as Trump’s national security advisor after the president announced he had nominated former National Security Council chief Mike Waltz to serve as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.  Rubio’s roles in the administration now include leading the State Department; serving as acting archivist of the United States after Trump ousted a Biden-era appointee; serving as acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development as the admin works to dissolve the independent agency by September; and taking the helm as the interim national security advisor.  But Rubio is not alone in taking on multiple roles within Trump’s second administration. Fox News Digital looks back on the various Trump Cabinet members and officials who are wearing multiple hats as the president works to realign the federal government to track with his “America First” policies.  TRUMP TOUTS ‘MOST SUCCESSFUL’ FIRST 100 DAYS IN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORY DURING MICHIGAN RALLY Rubio and the Trump administration have come under fire from Democrats for the secretary of state holding multiple high-profile roles in the second administration, including Democrats sounding off on the national security council shake-up on Sunday news shows.  “There’s no way he can do that and do it well, especially since there’s such incompetence over at DOD with Pete Hegseth being secretary of defense and just the hollowing out of the top leadership,” Illinois Democrat Sen. Tammy Duckworth said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “There’s no way he can carry all that entire load on his own.” TRUMP TO TAP NEW NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR IN 6 MONTHS; CALLS WALTZ MOVE ‘UPGRADE’ “I don’t know how anybody could do these two big jobs,” Democrat Virginia Sen. Mark Warner said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” When asked about the trend of Trump officials wearing multiple work hats, the White House reflected in comment to Fox News Digital on former President Joe Biden’s “disaster of a Cabinet.”  “Democrats cheered on Joe Biden’s disaster of a Cabinet as it launched the botched Afghanistan withdrawal, opened the southern border to migrant criminals, weaponized the justice system against political opponents, and more,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital. “President Trump has filled his administration with many qualified, talented individuals he trusts to manage many responsibilities.”  The Trump administration has previously brushed off concern over Rubio holding multiple roles, most notably juggling both his State Department leadership and serving as acting national security advisor. Similarly, former President Richard Nixon in 1973 named then-National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger to simultaneously serve as secretary of state.  “You need a team player who is very honest with the president and the senior team, not someone trying to build an empire or wield a knife or drive their own agenda. He is singularly focused on delivering the president’s agenda,” an administration official told Politico.  Rubio’s multiple national security roles come as war continues between Russia and Ukraine, Israel and Gaza, and recently launched attacks from India on Pakistan.  “I am monitoring the situation between India and Pakistan closely,” Rubio said in a Tuesday X post. “I echo @POTUS’s comments earlier today that this hopefully ends quickly and will continue to engage both Indian and Pakistani leadership towards a peaceful resolution.” As Rubio juggles multiple roles, the Trump administration’s foreign policies have closely involved special envoys, most notably Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East. TRUMP NOMINATES WALTZ FOR HIGH-LEVEL POST AFTER OUSING HIM AS NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR Witkoff is a former real estate tycoon and longtime ally of Trump’s whose focus in the Trump administration has been on negotiating with Russia amid its war against Ukraine and leading talks with Iran regarding its nuclear program. Witkoff was notably credited with helping secure the release of U.S. schoolteacher Marc Fogel from a Russian prison in February. Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department for comment on Rubio’s multiple roles but did not receive a response.  FBI Director Kash Patel, who railed against the “deep state” and vowed to strip corruption from the federal law enforcement agency ahead of his confirmation, was briefly charged with overseeing the of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in February after the Biden-era director resigned in January.  Patel was later replaced by Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll as acting ATF director in a job change that was publicly reported in April.  ARMY SECRETARY DAN DRISCOLL TO LEAD ATF, REPLACING FBI DIRECTOR KASH PATEL “Director Kash Patel was briefly designated ATF director while awaiting Senate confirmations, a standard, short-term move. Dozens of similar re-designations have occurred across the federal government,” the White House told Reuters in April. “Director Patel is now excelling in his role at the FBI and delivering outstanding results.” Driscoll was sworn in as the 26th secretary of the Army in February. The secretary of the army is a senior-level civilian official charged with overseeing the management of the Army and also acts as an advisor to the secretary of defense in matters related to the Army.  It was reported in April that Driscoll was named acting ATF director, replacing Patel in that role.  NEW ARMY SECRETARY PRAISES TRUMP, HEGSETH FOR CREATING ‘A LANE FOR CHANGE’ AS HE ZEROES IN ON CUTTING WASTE “Mr. Driscoll is responsible for the oversight of the agency’s mission to protect communities from violent criminals, criminal organizations, and the illegal trafficking of firearms, explosives, and contraband. Under his leadership, the ATF works to enforce federal laws, ensure public safety, and provide critical support in the investigation of firearms-related crimes and domestic and international criminal enterprises,” his ATF biography reads.  Ahead of Trump taking office, Republican Reps. Eric Burlison of Missouri and Lauren Boebert of Colorado introduced legislation to abolish the ATF, saying the agency has worked to strip Second Amendment rights from